A Cook Associates Report
Is the role of Chief Information Officer undergoing an evolution both in title and in philosophy? Some recent signals point to yes on both accounts.
According to Seth Harris, Executive Vice President with leading executive search and M&A firm Cook Associates, the number of clients looking to hire "outside of a traditional CIO role" has increased in the past two years.
"We're seeing more clients looking for Chief Process Officers, Chief Innovation Officers, rather than the more familiar Chief Information Officer," notes Harris. "Companies seem to be reaching for something bigger and broader when they look to fill that position. They want a technology leader who is focused on a business agenda, and understands how technology can enable a business to exploit opportunities. This means that today's CIO must be a visionary thinker."
Most agree with Harris that those shifting titles are indicative of a much bigger issue at play. "What we call it is immaterial," says Ranga Jayaraman, CIO of NVIDIA Corporation. "It's all semantics behind a very real transformation in the CIO's role. A transformation in what is expected not only of the technology systems, but in what is expected of IT in the areas of innovation, collaboration and real business results."
The Role
Chief Information Officers (CIOs) have traditionally been responsible for technology platforms, networking solutions and "keeping the lights on" at a company. The primary responsibilities were managing the infrastructure and the technology cost-center.
Yet in an October 2007 study from the Harvard-Sloan School of Management, an astounding 93% of CIOs surveyed rate "promoting collaboration between IT and lines of business" as their most important activity.
Michele Goins, CIO of Juniper Networks, isn't surprised. "Businesses are recognizing that to compete they need to make the shift from viewing their IT infrastructure as a cost-center to a strategic asset. IT has become about the power of business processes and creating an enabling technology environment, rather than simply technology applications. It's about how work throughout the entire organization gets done; how it flows and where customers are engaged. Our job is to automate and accelerate as many things as possible, enabling employees to focus on business innovation, differentiation and delivering customer value."
With a significant business process re-engineering effort underway at Juniper Networks, a strategic partnership between the business and IT has been forged. Together, they are working towards the company's stated goal: To Transform Our Community to One Where Execution is a Competitive Advantage.
Goins explains, "The business is leading the effort in terms of defining the processes and describing the ‘what'; and IT is here to coach and mentor from a technology perspective, defining the ‘how' of the equation." Goins and the IT team are integral to the business delivering on its new platforms.
The New Skill Set
"A successful IT executive now needs to stand on three legs," notes Jayaraman. "First is depth of knowledge or expertise in some aspect of IT. Second is knowledge of the business that you serve, including critical challenges and opportunities. Third are soft skills - the ability to facilitate the bridging of what the business needs to what the technology can do for the business."
Goins adds, "Our goal now is to standardize, simplify and scale our business. This is how we can help the company build competitive advantage and increase productivity internally."
According to Harris, clients are now placing greater importance on the following skill sets when looking for a CIO:
- A global perspective for a changing global economy;
- Broad business skills with an understanding of how technology infrastructure can tangibly contribute to a company's top and bottom line;
- Soft skills to successfully develop stronger cross functional teams;
- An understanding of how technology can drive competitive advantage across all facets of an organization;
- Access to information supply chains to allow for more effective partnerships that will encourage information sharing and idea generation.
Are You Ready?
In spite of these indicators, most agree that this is still in the early phase of evolution. Even though the Harvard-Sloan survey shows that 80% of CIOs feel they are a valued member of the senior leadership team, with 69% indicating significant involvement in strategic decision-making, there is still a long way to go. And the biggest challenge may not be IT's readiness; the real question might be, "is the organization ready?"
"We can do a major, company-wide application change in roughly nine months," notes Goins. "But to get the buy-in culturally from the rest of the organization, to truly see people changing the way they do business... that can take three times as long."
Jarayaman agrees that it must come from the top down. "This kind of transformation of IT affecting the business cannot happen in a silo, no matter how skilled or forward-thinking the IT leadership. The highest levels of leadership within the organization need to leverage IT in strategy, with a mindset of mutual respect and collaboration. If you look at IT as bits and bytes, that's what you get. It's about expecting more."
Seth Harris is an Executive Vice President with Cook Associates, Inc. and a search consultant within the firm's executive search division. With nearly 15 years of experience delivering exceptional search services in technology related markets, Seth is well-positioned to comment on industry trends. He can be reached at 781.565.1146 or via email at sharris@cookassociates.com.